Curating resources & sharing stories to empower teacher & student ownership, wonder, and daring.
Columbus Day was declared a federal holiday in the United States in 1934 by President Roosevelt after lobbying from a Catholic fraternal association called Knights of Columbus. Since then, many have questioned the appropriateness of celebrating Columbus by bringing some of his lesser-known actions to light. Let’s lay it out and look at the myths and truths surrounding Christopher Columbus and his legacy:
With Halloween right around the corner, you’re probably starting to stress about your costume ideas. You and your roommates/besties want to do group costumes for Halloween? Check out our thoughts on the top 5 creative group costumes! If you use any of the ideas, be sure to send us a pic…
It’s been a week now, and the government shutdown is still in effect. What does that mean for education? Continue reading to find out…
Continue reading “How the government shutdown is affecting education”
Success in school is often measured by the grades you get. For some of us, getting good grades is more than difficult–it seems like no matter how we try, we can’t follow through. With this list on getting good grades (that applies to all levels), maybe we can change that and get on the path to good grades…
If you’re anything like any of us at HGU, we sometimes get caught up in the organization and forget to move past the step. We sometimes find ourselves lost in endless check-lists and to-dos that never get done. Don’t get us wrong, organization is important (hence why it’s on the list), but don’t get lost in it!
They key to getting good grades is learning the information. This seems obvious, but so many people try to get by with cramming and learning just enough to get through each test. That method is more stressful and less predictable. Sure and steady is the way to go! As a similar warning from the organization section, don’t let your desire for perfect flash cards take you so long that you don’t actually get to study them.
The hardest part for most people is doing the assignments or readings that feel like busy work. Well, whether you like them or not, agree with them or don’t, if you want to get good grades, you have to do them. It’s important to realize we’re not entitled to good grades. You have to work for them, and like most things in life, that sometimes means doing things you think are stupid, dumb, or of no use. Good grades get you to good colleges which give you more opportunities–and then you can make the rules!
If you want good grades, you have to make decisions of a Grade-A person. You have to be honest with yourself about what you can and can’t handle.
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In conclusion, there will always be sacrifices. You may have to sacrifice a night out for a night in to finish a paper; however, if you find yourself sacrificing a social life in general, maybe you’ve given yourself too big of a workload. It’s all about balance! Have confidence in yourself! You can do it!
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Featured Image: Stefano Montagner
Those over at the National Education Association recently posted an article on how teachers can avoid conflicts with their students by decreasing power struggles. We take their advice and add our own thoughts below:
I think we’ve all either been the problem student or had to deal (directly or indirectly) with the problem students. We’ve all seen how teachers react, and learned which reactions deal with the students poorly; but how can teachers react to problem students in a way that uplifts, inspires, and corrects?
The tips the NEA gives are broken up into Dos and Don’ts. As we go through their list of just the dos (let’s focus on the positives), we’ll add explanations and illustrations.
According to a Dr. Robert Feller of the University of Washington, helping students stay interested decreases potential disruptions. Retired teacher LaNelle Holland said:
Attention grabbers may be used to provoke thought, facilitate active learning, or just share experiences.
Some ideas for hooks/attention grabbers:
Another retired teacher, Diane Postman, suggests that being able to connect with a student on a personal level can help a teacher make “allowances or adaptations” to fit the individual needs of the student. This can create trust between a student and their teacher, which is likely to ward off disruptive behaviors. On the topic of creating trust with students, Ben Johnson, who is a superintendent in Texas, had this to say:
We earn our students’ trust by showing them respect in the form of meaningful, challenging, and rewarding learning activities that are worthy of their time and best efforts.
Students in their early years of school are naturally trusting, and — please don’t take this the wrong way — we abuse that trust in the name of socialization and classroom management. In essence, we teach them to obey rather than to explore. As students get older, they often trust less and start behaving…like our…suspicious visitor. Most will take what we offer but will not allow a learning partnership.
Trust works the other way, too. As teachers, we have learned to distrust our students. All it takes is one disruptive young person to ruin it for the rest of the students that follow. We don’t want to get burned again, so we tighten the rules and narrow the focus. We develop an attitude that we can’t trust our students to learn independently. Especially in the early grades, we feel it is our responsibility to control every aspect of their learning activities so things don’t get out of hand, or so they don’t make a mess. [1]
Taking time to immediately stop the confrontation is key. Showing the student in a polite manner that conflicts can be stopped before they escalate shows them an example of handling a situation in an adult manner; however, you don’t want the student to feel unheard, so in some cases is might be appropriate to set up a time to meet with the student privately to discuss the behavioral problem, such as after the period is over. To continue the trust you’re hoping to build with the student, remaining respectful is of utmost importance.
Frank Iannucci, a math and computer science teacher from West Orange, New Jersey, says teachers should immediately stop the confrontation and arrange to discuss it with the student in a mature, adult manner, regardless of the age of the student, after the period.
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The most important thing is to be respectful and gain respect from love not fear! Thanks for reading and we’ll see you guys soon!
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Featured Image: U.S. Department of Education
Hip hop as a musical genre got its start in the 1970s in the Bronx when DJs would take popular breaks in songs, isolate those beats, and make them longer for the audiences. Hip hop began as a sort of “voice” for the disenfranchised youth in the poorer New York City neighborhoods. Check out our cool timeline of the evolution of Hip Hop:
Every month, we at HGU have decided to read a book and break our “under 5 minutes” rule to discuss it. The book for August was Pride & Prejudice & Zombies–see the original video here.
Well, we read it. Sort of. Brittany got the farthest, reading a little past halfway. The general consensus of the book was “if you have something better to do, do that instead. If you’re bored with nothing better to do, read the book.”
It was definitely entertaining, in a very grim sort of way. Did you end up reading the book, or have you read it before? If you’ve even finished it, you got way farther than we did.
Join us next month for our September Book Club read: Remains of the Day <<— That’s a link to Amazon.com page for the book.
You have to read it by September 30th (plenty of time, right?) and send us your review by then! We’ll be posting our video that day. Join the conversation! We want to hear from you guys!
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Featured Image: Roslyn